previews, reviews, interviews, and recommendations with Steve Cooke
WEEKEND COLUMN SATURDAY 28 DECEMBER 2024
FestiDale was one of 2024’s huge successes!
Review by Steve Cooke
The FestiDale was one of the highlights from the last year of Royal Exchange Theatre’s Local Exchange, their community engagement programme where they get out into local communities and work with local people to celebrate and build arts, crafts and culture in their area.
With their Ambassadors and Champions Royal Exchange Theatre co-produced a two-week community festival - The FestiDale - held at Kingsway Park High School last August.
There were 142 Non-Professional Performers involved with a total audience of 1002 plus 30 Training and Development opportunities taken up.
FestiDale was very well received by Rochdale People.
“The FestiDale has opened my eyes to how creative and joyful the people who live here are. I feel proud of where I'm from for maybe the first time ever.” – Audience Member
Ann S (Rochdale Ambassador): “Rochdale has received a lot of bad press in recent years, so The FestiDale offered an opportunity to bring not only drama, entertainment and fun to the area, but also the chance to engender a sense of pride in the borough and its people. And there is so much to celebrate in the Rochdale Borough, with its history, architecture and a strong sense of humanity and compassion.”
Daisy (Rochdale Ambassador): “The reason I got involved in The FestiDale was that I really believe in the power of the arts to help us cope with our own struggles in life. It is like a vehicle that takes us to a place of reflection and sometime solace. Having that in mind, the idea of being part of The FestiDale meant that I would be, somehow, joining this community of likeminded people and help to spread some happiness among our residents in Rochdale. Rochdale is a place I call “my tribe”, it is a global mosaic of cultures and languages. I love it here!”
The festival also showcased unique performances voiced by the people of Rochdale, with over 200 people’s stories of the Dale, featuring community members alongside professional actors.
Memories and poems about Rochdale were collected and curated to create a brand-new immersive audio and script-in hand theatre experience created by the award-winning team of director Nickie Miles-Wildin, curator Shahid Iqbal Khan and audio producer Polly Thomas.
Audience members reported.
“Amazing experience showcasing the community. Loved it.”
“We need these stories told in the communities that need to talk about them”
“It brought people in who may never have seen theatre. Told stories never heard.”
Also 220 people exchanged postcards with strangers.
Audiences at The FestiDale were invited to take a moment to create a postcard for a stranger, leaving their own address to receive one in return. Posted by Rochdale Ambassadors & Champions, 220 postcards were shared between people across Rochdale.
“How lovely to meet you. There is an unknown joy in meeting a stranger. I hope today you experience kindness”
“Wishing you much love, peace and happiness throughout your life”
“I hope you like Rochdale Football team as much as me!”
This simple exchange challenged and questioned some of society’s construction of strangers, the fear and threat often associated with the unknown. Instead, the messages shared, of joy, hope and simple hellos, invited us to view ourselves and unknown others as part of a larger community – connected both by place and care.
“To lovely you. Yes you… The one reading this message. You are kind, smart, amazing and simply the best!”
“I hope you like my colouring and that you have a wonderful day!”
“I hope this makes you smile”
All this and more led to conversations with local poet, Seamus Kelly, who wrote an excellent poem ‘Welcome to Rochdale’ celebrating the borough. The poem was turned into a film which was projected on to the Den, opening The FestiDale.
Crafting Heritage and Exploring Nature in Deeplish with Cartwheel Arts
Preview by Steve Cooke
Craft, in all its forms, brings families, friends, and communities together. It is a celebration and the manifestation of people’s identities, cultures, and traditions.
Sadly, craft can be endangered by forced migration and dislocation.
Cartwheel Arts’ multi-faceted Crafting Heritage programme helps ensure that the rich heritage craft traditions of people who have experienced forced migration are preserved, celebrated, and shared.
A group of trainees who have experienced forced migration and are now settled in the borough of Rochdale are working with trainer Emmanuela Yogolelo, whose heritage is rooted in DCR Congo, to develop the trainees’ workshop planning and delivery skills over the coming year. This training will allow the group to introduce global craft traditions into Rochdale’s primary schools.
Schoolchildren in Rochdale can look forward to exploring global crafts by working with a Congolese textile artist, an Indian block printer, a Pakistani tea light maker, a Ukrainian Petrykivka painter, and an Argentinian Loom weaver.
The Crafting Heritage programme is led by Ruth Flanagan. Stella Barnes designed the syllabus, and Mahoobeh Rajabi is a mentor. Crafting Heritage is supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Public Health England.
Exploring Nature in Deeplish with Zinda Dil.
The Deeplish Community Centre was awarded funding from Arts Council England to develop Zinda Dil, which means ‘lively heart’ in Urdu.
Cartwheel Arts are the creative partner in the project!
Zinda Dil is an intergenerational project that explores and celebrates the visible and hidden cycles of nature in the everyday.
Older women of South Asian heritage have formed the Zinda Dil Art Group. The group is working with artists to create the Deeplish Arts Almanac, a visual catalogue of the changing seasons. The project will feature a living sculpture trail, which will start at the community centre.
During the school holidays, children from Deeplish Community Centre’s Children’s Play Scheme will observe the monthly changes in wildlife, from birds and insects to plant life, on their doorstep and create artwork based on the changing seasons.
The project, produced by our Arts for Wellbeing Programme Coordinator, Stacey Coughlin, is well underway. Artists, including Rahela Khan, Anjum Malik, Alex Blakey, the arts organisation Idle Women, and our Emotional Well-being Practitioner, Salma Khalid, are busy working with Deeplish’s diverse communities.
Zinda Dill will run until September 2025.
FRAG going strong as the Art Gallery refurbishment nears conclusion.
By Steve Cooke
Friends of Rochdale Art Gallery [FRAG] is going strong as the Art Gallery refurbishment nears conclusion.
For many years the Friends have been helping the Art Gallery to conserve and acquire paintings for the Collection.
Talks by invited speakers about historic and contemporary art and craft are held most months with the occasional trip to visit other art collections.
The group is a natural home for local art lovers and joining would help:
Promote and support the work of Touchstones in Rochdale and beyond
Restoration and conservation of the Borough’s art collection
Assist in the acquisition of new artworks for the Borough’s collection
Annual membership is just £10 and includes:
A programme of events on the second Thursday of every month
Invitations to private views of new exhibitions
Talks by guest speakers, artists, art historians, crafts people and more at a discounted rate
Opportunities to take part in private tours of art gallery stores
Annual visits to other galleries, events and venues in the region
Join the Friends of Rochdale Art Gallery
The Friends of Rochdale Art Gallery have been essential to continued growth and development as an important regional art gallery.
Through their generous donations over the years countless key works of art have been conserved and acquired for the collection including Interior (The Open Window) by artist Vanessa Bell and purchased in 1982.
Annual membership is only £10 and in addition to knowing you are supporting your local art gallery; you also get discounted rates on the annual programme of talks and trips organised by the Friends and invitations to private views for all exhibitions.
Registered Charity Number 517566
To discuss membership, please contact: Dr Joe Dawson, FRAG chair:
Telephone: 01706 648872
Email: mail@joedawson.co.uk
In November, the Friends collaborated with Gallery Oldham, set up a pop-up stall in the foyer, and sold donated art and handmade items. They held a raffle for a member's painting and a silent auction for other items.
Roger Hindle led a tour of exhibitions, including "Oldham Stories," "The Oldham Open," featuring local artists, and "One Seven Five," showcasing Oldham's history through 175 objects. The galleries displayed stuffed birds and live beehives visible from upstairs.
The next FRAG meeting is scheduled for January 9, 2025, at Rochdale Music Service. The meeting will feature a presentation updating the group on the exciting creative and artistic developments expected in the borough in the new year.
FRAG meets at 1 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month at Rochdale Music Service, located at 7–11 The Butts, Rochdale OL16 1XT. For inquiries, please contact Dr. Joe Dawson, FRAG Chair, at 01706 648872.
RECOMMENDED
Saturday 28 December 2024 - Sunday 29 December 2024
Meet Elsa, Anna and Olaf
Find Elsa, Anna and Olaf at Rochdale Riverside this winter.
Come and say hello to the gang and have your photo taken – get creative - dressing up is welcome!
11am - 2pm
Rochdale Riverside, Riverside Walk, Town Centre, Rochdale OL16 1TR
Saturday 28 December 2024
MeatLoud – tribute band
Get ready to rock out with MeatLoud at the Empire – it’s gonna be loud, it’s gonna be epic, and it’s gonna be live!
FREE ADMISSION before 8.30pm - then £3 after for the band show (pay on the door). Then after the show, free entry again.
Bands are usually on stage from 9.30pm, finish around 11.30pm
Strictly over 18s
Dress code: smart casual
Ground level access (no steps).
Disabled toilet.
5 mins walk to the tram, bus, train or taxi rank
Phone: Paul Whitham 01706 551515
8.30pm
Empire Rochdale, 7 Packer Street, Rochdale OL16 1NJ
Tuesday 31 December 2024
Treehouse Live NYE Acoustic Sessions
Tonight artist - Stevie O’Connor (free entry).
Everyone is welcome to enjoy live music and have a dance in our Rum and Cocktail Lounge, now with live music every Friday and Saturday evenings.
Music varies to accommodate most tastes.
Free
Phone: Tony Moore 07870 623456
7pm
Treehouse Bar Rochdale, 14 Baillie Street, Rochdale OL16 1JG
Tuesday 31 December 2024
Dan Fielden's Swing Thing - live music
Tonight's live artist is - Dan Fielden's Swing Thing.
Vicolo del Vino was once an abandoned cellar. The ‘Wine Alley’ has since been transformed into a candlelit wine cellar with a true Mediterranean ambience.
Free
Phone: 07870 155951
7pm
Vicolo Del Vino, Cellar of 8-10 Baillie Street, Town Centre, Rochdale OL16 1ES
celebrating creative arts and artists - an oasis of positivity supporting individual and community wellbeing.
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